1. Field
The present disclosure relates to knives for agricultural mixer apparatus and more particularly pertains to a new segmented knife assembly with replaceable wear segments for providing a means for replacing portions of the knives that are subject to the highest degree of wear while retaining portions that are not subject to the highest degree of wear.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of agricultural implements, such as mixers, utilize blades or knives that are moved through materials to cut and mix the materials. The materials wear upon the surfaces of the knives, particularly on the relatively sharpened cutting edges of the knives, while other portions of the knives may be more protected and receive a lesser amount of wear. The wear on the cutting edge thus requires periodic replacement of the knives with new knives that have an unworn edge.
The replacement of the knives involves additional cost, and the time needed to replace the knives results in downtime for the equipment. Furthermore, virtually every different manufacturer of apparatus such as mixers utilizes a knife configuration that differs from the configurations utilized by other manufacturers, and thus a large inventory of the different knife configurations may need to be maintained by suppliers to meet the consumers' needs for replacement knives.
The segmented knife assembly with replaceable wear segments according to the present disclosure departs from the conventional concepts and practices.